Caged
by Couture Girl
Summary: Sirius Black is in Azkaban for only one reason: For killing the traitor Peter Pettigrew, but when he discovers that Peter isn't dead then nothing is stopping him to escape.


**AN: Written for Women's Tennis: The Black Family. Round 2 for the Hogwarts 2012 Games, The Scenery Comp Round 4. Scene 1 and The Order of the Phoenix and Death Eater Challenge.**

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On an island in the middle of the North Sea there was a triangle-shaped magical prison named Azkaban which held the criminals of wizarding Britain. It was a cold and empty prison, all but abandoned for many years; most of what remained were the bones of old prisoners. One cell had scratches on the wall, one for each day its occupant had remained within. New scratches lay upon the old, and if they were all counted it would have been well over five hundred years worth. The most recent prisoner of that cell was Sirius Black who had been sent to Azkaban for the deaths of James and Lily Potter, Peter Pettigrew and twelve Muggles. He was a follower of the Dark Lord and was therefore not allowed an appeal.

A life sentence in solitary confinement at the mercy of the Dementors who guarded Azkaban caused Sirius, who as a Black had inherited the family history of ending up mad sooner or later, to lose much of his sanity. As he sat in the darkest corner of his cell, he rocked back and forth obsessing that he was innocent, that he hadn't, would never betray his friends. He would have died first rather than betray them.

James had been more of a brother than Regulus. Lily had been like the annoying sister he'd never had. He would have never taken little Harry's chance at having a wonderful life. Thoughts of how Harry lived with those Muggles plagued him often and made him want to revive Peter and strangle him with his bare hands.

Peter.

How could he not have realized that Peter had been a traitor? That he had been working for Voldemort all this time!

Rocking a bit faster and digging nails into his skin, he felt horrible. He had accused Remus of spending too much time away, doing Merlin only knows what. A memory struck – Remus had become even closer to Katherine when his engagement to her had broken off and after graduating Hogwarts Remus was one of the few people Katherine had still kept contact with. Sirius realized now that what he'd felt towards Remus was jealousy, envy and anger. He had loved Katherine and couldn't comprehended why she had confided in Remus after marrying that old disgusting man Nott.

Remus had been the only man allowed to visit Katherine and it hadn't seemed fair. In Sirius' mind there had been only one reason – Remus wanted Katherine to himself, and the only way to get her was to get into the good graces of Abelard Nott, who was a Death Eater, a loyal follower of the Dark Lord.

Sirius had told James about this, and James would not believe him, telling him that Remus wasn't in love with her, that he wouldn't do that to Sirius. James had told him that Remus was loyal.

When Sirus had accused Remus of betrayal he had also openly accused him of seeking Katherine. Thinking back now and remembering Remus' expression, Sirius knew it had been one of shock and hurt. Of course Moony would never betray Sirius' friendship nor for that matter James and Lily's! Sirius' whole body shook as his hands went to his ears. He rocked a bit slower now.

And Peter had been right there, with his beady eyes looking amused! No one had suspected him, and Sirus at the time had been blinded by his emotions but now it was all clear. Peter had been the one to betray all of their trust and friendship – that little fat good for nothing rat was the one who had separated all of them. But why? Sirus didn't get why Peter had done it. What had Voldemort given him in return? Nothing came to mind. Being alone in in his own mind for too long had made Sirius think of the past a lot and had also made him realize that he hadn't known Peter that well.

His rocking continued for a moment as he obsessed over the fact that he had killed the traitor, that he had avenged James and Lily's death. Out of all his failures he had done something right! A wicked smile overcame his grim features, there was a gleam in his black eyes and his once aristocratic and handsome features were now waxy, sunken and gaunt mixed with suffering, obsession and hunger. The death of the traitor was the only reason why he was here.

"I killed him…" Sirius whispered under his breath as he nodded to himself in agreement, repeating the mantra that had accompanied him since his first day in this cage full of bones.

Footsteps were heard. The hallways of Azkaban were most of the time deserted, except once a year when there was a visitor for Sirius Black, under the guise of inspection. The cobblestones floor were mostly silent when Dementors floated to smother the prisoner's thoughts and emotions. Sirius stopped moving, knowing full well who it was, the mantra now being murmured. He didn't look up as he heard the cold voice sneer, "Speaking to yourself again, brat?" The voice held a bit of amusement. "If people hear they might send you to St. Mungos, but we don't want a rabid killer there. You might kill the Longbottoms as well," Abelard Nott said.

The old man laughed coldly, highly amused. Sirius' eyes just darkened and his expression became solemn. He knew what had happened to Frank and Alice; dear Bellatrix had shouted it when she had been put here.

"You could even finish the job your cousin couldn't do," Nott continued. "But then again, you aren't a Death Eater, and it wouldn't look good to us." 'Us' as in the Death Eaters; they wouldn't want an ex-member of the Order of Phoenix killing one of their own. "When my Lord comes he wouldn't be pleased."

Not pleased because they hadn't done the job and left it to a brat like him, Sirius thought idly, shaking his head. His hand pulled his hair as he tried to block old Nott and bury himself in thoughts of the good old days before all this nightmare come true, this constant taunting reality. And for a moment, Sirius was lost, not hearing the jeering, insulting and rambling of Abelard Nott. Why would he hear it? The last time he had, the disgusting man had told him in detail how he'd killed Katherine. Closing his eyes, Sirius could believe that he wasn't here, he wasn't in this disgusting cell full of bones, feeling cold and hungry and crazy.

He was in the countryside, the warm wind blowing his black hair, and as he looked around he realised he was sitting on wooden bench outside a small cottage (the one Uncle Alphard had lived in). A table full of delicious food was in front of him, waiting to be eaten. He looked to his left when he heard a gurgle and a warm smile appeared on his face as he saw James holding baby Harry, a mischievous smile on his face. Sirius was about to tell him a dirty joke but was interrupted by Lily who was talking to Remus, his dear friend who he had accused of betrayal. And it felt so real that he could smell the food, could feel the nudge James gave him to make him look up again with a smile. Katherine was there with little Teddy in one hand and the other on her pregnant stomach. It was so real that when she was sitting next to him, he could even _smell_ her. Cinnamon. Her scent was the most real thing to him and tears were threatening to escape but James just shook him, Lily laughed, Remus smiled and Katherine snuggled next to him while little Harry and Teddy played. And all was good – this was what he wanted his life to be like everyday. This was his true family.

"Kath-rine," he whispered to her, mispronouncing her name on purpose, teasing her.

She opened her mouth about to correct him as always, but instead of hearing her voice he heard old Nott's. "When I speak to you, brat. You are to listen to me and face me." His wand pointed at Sirius, hexing him.

Sirius felt his lungs being coated by ice, making it hard to breathe. He bit back a cry; he wouldn't give the repulsive man the satisfaction of knowing he was hurting.

"Daydreaming again, are you brat?" Nott sneered, his black glove holding onto one of the cell bars. "She's dead, and not coming back. And even when you die, you won't reunite with your disgusting friends and her. I'll make sure of it."

Sirius kept silent, wanting so much to talk back, but knowing full well it would only cause him to be hexed or attacked by a Dementor.

"I'll make these useless Dementors suck your soul and not even in death you'll have what you want, brat. And get used to it, the Black's have lost everything they once were." Nott was whispering now, so only Sirius could hear, and he felt that all the bravery he once had was gone. Why fight back? All was lost now. He had given up a long time ago, and it saddened him that the old Sirius had died along with his loved ones – there was just a small piece of the old him left but it was hidden so far away in himself that he couldn't find it.

Old Nott looked at his pocket watch. "Would you look at the time, it's getting late and I need to get some errands done." The hand that wasn't holding the cell bar took out an issue of the _Daily Prophet_. Sirius looked at it; old Nott would always give him an issue of the _Prophet_ whenever he visited.

Nott did the same this time, throwing it at Sirius' feet. "So you can use it to clean your arse." He turned and left.

Sirius glared and only after the footsteps had disappeared did he reach for it. Normally he would take his time to read the whole _Prophet_ to see what was happening but stopped when he saw a photo of what looked to be a middle-aged Arthur and Molly Weasley and their children. Except they weren't the thing that had grabbed his attention; there was a fat rat on the hand of a young Weasley. Sirius was in shock – he knew that rat. That same old fat rat had accompanied Prongs, Moony and Padfoot under the light of a full moon.

His hands immediately crumpled the paper, his yellow teeth gritting. He thought he had killed that traitor. That was why he was here, for killing Peter, because he had betrayed James and Lily – but he hadn't died! He was still alive and living with the Weasleys as if nothing had happened.

Sirius whipped his head as he felt coldness reach him – the Dementors were near. He concentrated as much as he could, hiding his fury, quickly melting into his Animagus form. His black eyes looked around his cell. It hadn't been the first time that he had been able to do this. The scruffy dog hide helped him fade even more into the shadows as the Dementor entered.

This was his chance. There had been countless chances like this and he never had tried to escape, because in his mind he was supposed to be here for the death of the man that he'd thought was his friend, but now that the truth was out, well nothing was making him stay. He would finish what he had started twelve years ago, Padfoot thought as he slipped through the bars of his cell and past the Dementors, feeling that old man at his back with each step that he took.

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**AN: This takes place before my one-shot: A Moment in Life. Please review! Oh and just so you don't get confused: Teddy is Theodore Nott. Not Teddy Lupin. **


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